IT WAS a record year for Latham & Watkins, with the West Coast outfit smashing all personal bests. The firm grew revenue by 17 per cent, turning over $1.41bn (£776.1m), while PEP also did well, skyrocketing by 14 per cent to $1.6m (£879,000).

14 per cent to $1.6m (£879,000). Latham muscled its way into the top five global firms by revenue, knocking Baker & McKenzie out of the group and overtaking Allen & Overy. Its only compatriot member of the top five this year was New York powerhouse Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.

Latham has 300 more lawyers than it did this time last year. But it was not just about bulk: there have been some strategic lateral hires, particularly in Asia and Europe, where in December 2005 it raided Ashurst’s Munich office for three lawyers, including private equity heavyweight Jörg Kirchner, to launch its own local presence.

Its work for private equity houses in Europe certainly let Latham ride the M&A boom, but it is also picking up some choice corporate clients. For instance, it represented Bayer on its €16.3bn (£11.4bn) acquisition of Schering, the largest-ever M&A deal in Germany. That in part explains why Latham leapt up the European M&A tables last year.

The record-breaking work extended to Russia too, with Latham picking up the instruction on Comstar United Telesystems’ £635m IPO, the second-largest float of a Russian company to date.

The blue-chip clients are also apparent in China. Latham has netted some choice Chinese corporate clients that have floated on Western exchanges, such as China Medical Technologies. It can also boast a steady stream of work from private equity groups such as Carlyle and New York-based underwriters in China.